The Phantom of the Opera: A Beauty and a Beast (Guile and Melody)

[Saiyan Princess]

Raoul was too far gone to even thank Erik for his help. "I have to get to her, immediately." He managed, as the stumbling got worse. Luckily, he managed to get to his seat just in time. He rested there. "Dada." Gustav watched Raoul, squirming in Erik's arms. "Dada." Raoul didn't acknowledge the extremely early development of his son. He just laid there, barely understanding what was going on around him.

 

[Guile]

Erik glared at the Vicomte, hatred for the man burning even more intensely as he stepped further into the room and plopped into a chair. Tightening his hold just slightly, Erik attempted to calm the squirming child. It was only a moment before he realized that his son had just spoken his first word, causing tears to form in Erik's eyes. Seconds later, his tears of joy were gone, replaced by a feeling of pure agony. He understood now that his son's first word was 'Dada', but it was directed at the drunken fool across the room, not the child's biological father. Erik's heart ached as he continued to hold Gustav in his arms, the boy attempting to reach for Raoul - the man he looked to as a father, but who was to drunk to care that he was wanted or being spoken to. God, it was torture for Erik to watch, but he was forced to. He had to stay with Gustav until Christine came back. This man has everything I've ever wanted, a loving wife and child, and he doesn't care enough to quit drinking and be a good husband and father!

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Dada!" Gustav yelled again, trying to get a reaction out of Raoul. The genius gene had definitely been passed on if a child less than six months old was already talking. Finally, Raoul picked himself up. "I-I'm...I'm co-coming." Raoul stood and started stumbling toward the sound. "Daddy is...D-Dad-dy is h-here." He held out his arms for Gustav. The baby kicked his legs again, attempting to get to who he thought was Daddy.

 

[Guile]

Erik's blood boiled as he watched Raoul stand and make his way over, attempting to get to Gustav. He stood, in turn, and backed away from the man, the child still in his arms. On any other day, Erik would have given the child to him - not wanting him to suspect that Gustav wasn't his son. However, today was different. Raoul was drunk and Erik did not trust him with the child. "You cannot take child in the condition you're in. I won't let you. It's far too dangerous." He protested firmly.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"A-And who a-are y-you to st-stop me?" Raoul fell again. "H-He's m-my son!" De Chagney started crawling to his son. "Let me have h-him." Raoul grabbed the bottom of Erik's shirt. Still, Gustav tried desperately to reach Raoul. This caused such a commotion that Madame Giry had to come supervise. "Mister Y." She spoke in her normal voice. "Mister Y, Christine is almost finished."

 

[Guile]

Erik glared down at the pitiful figure that was Raoul crawling toward him. Disgusted and even more furious that Christine would chose to live with a man like this rather than himself, Erik continued to hold Gustav out of the Vicomte's reach. "You will not handle this child right now. You can hardly stand, you fool!" As Raoul grabbed the bottom of his shirt, Erik immediately grabbed him by the wrists and tore him off. "Do not touch me!" He growled just as Madame Giry entered the room. Erik couldn't have been more relived. "Thank you, Madame." I hope she is quick. If Raoul stays here much longer he could figure out who I am...

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Madame Giry nodded and took this opportunity to help Raoul back to his feet. "Listen, Vicomte, your wife is here, yes, but, please keep your hands at the level of your eyes." She had to rub his wrists, which were red. The poor fool had been whimpering since he was assaulted by Erik. "Chr-Christine.." he managed to choke out, spotting his wife behind Madame Giry. "Erik, how could you!" She had seen Erik yank her husband away from a window upstairs. "Give me my son!" She took Gustav away. "I don't want you around my family again!"

 

[Guile]

Erik had been standing with Gustav in his arms, scowling at the childish behavior of the Vicomte. His prideful air quickly left him when he realized Christine was there and had seen what he had done to Raoul. "How could I what, Christine? Protect Gustav from that drunk you call a husband?" He didn't realize he was shouting, but he was painfully aware that his life was being ripped from him at the same time Christine took Gustav from his grasp. "How could you, Christine?" Erik growled, furious but also close to tears at how cruel she was being. She was tearing a father from his son!

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Erik, I love him!" Christine growled at him. "You truly are that monster from the catacombs! Leave us alone!" Crying, she helped Raoul to his feet and brought him home. Ten years later, the same family went on living the exact same way. Gustav had grown into a beautiful ten year old boy. Today, he was laying on the floor, playing with his music box. "Mother?" Christine immediately turned around. "Yes, darling?" She wrapped an arm around him. "Why won't Father play with me?" Gustav laid against her. "Child, your father loves you so much. I promise." She started humming to him.

 

[Guile]

It had been ten years, ten long years, and Christine's words still stung Erik's heart and invaded his sleep. Phantasma had been doing well as always, but he no longer cared. In fact, he stopped caring long ago. He still managed to carry on and perform his work, but only for the sake of his employees. Erik no longer found joy in it - his heart ached to much to find joy in anything. Oh, how he had longed to just die! Unfortunately, Madame Giry had kept a close watch on him, even after all this time. Taking his own life was practically impossible, plus, Christine and Gustav still lived. Erik could not die knowing they were still out there, so close. In fact, today was the day he planned on returning to them. He had tried for the past decade to get them off his mind - to move on - but it was impossible. No, today he would return to Christine with a job opportunity. She would sing for him, at Phantasma, and she would sing the song that he wrote over the past few months - when he would sit up awake into late ours of the night, into early morning, pinning for her love.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine smiled and caressed her boy's cheek as she sang. "Love's a curious thing. It often comes disguised. Look at love the wrong way, it goes un-recognized." She tilted his head toward her and kissed his forehead. "So look with your heart." She placed her hand over his heart. "And not with your eyes." She closed his eyes. "A heart understands, a heart never lies." She leaned into him, smiling still. "Believe what it feels and trust what it shows. Look with your heart, the heart always knows." She kissed his cheek and showed him Phantasma through the window. "Love is not always beautiful, not at the start." She couldn't stop thinking of Erik as she opened his arms. "So open your arms, and close your eyes tight. Look with your heart, and when it finds love, your heart will be right." She indicated toward her room, where Raoul was before going out. "Learn from someone who knows. Make sure you don't forget. Love you misunderstand


Is love that you'll regret."

 

[Guile]

Erik paced in his room, desperately trying to get up his nerve to face Christine again after all these years, but he knew he had to. He couldn't go on living without her, not any longer. Not when she was so close to him. God, he felt her presence everyday! Her home just mocked him every time he looked at it. The past ten years had been hell for Erik, and he was done living this hell. Gathering up his work in his hand, he left his room and looked around for anyone who might try to stop him, but saw no one. That's when he headed for the door out, preparing to make his way over to Christine for the first time in so long.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Gustav started echoing his mother's song, holding her hands. "Mother, look with your heart, and not with your eyes, the heart can't be fooled." Christine cut into the song. "The heart is too wise." Then Gustav took over again. "Forget what you think." Then Christine. "Ignore what you hear." She clasped her hands over her boy's ears as they sang together. "Look with your heart, it always sees clear." Then, the beautiful Gustav resembled his father again. "Love is not always beautiful, not at the start." He had no clue that his mother thought of Erik. "But open your arms. And close your eyes tight. Look with your heart, and when it finds love, your heart will be right." She smoothed his hair over.

 

[Guile]

As Erik crossed the area to the de Chagney home, his music clasped in his hand, his heart began to race. He couldn't wait to see Christine again. Every night for so many years he would lie awake thinking of her, only sleeping every few days or so for a couple of hours. No one can get rest with their mind and heart racing. It had been actual physical torture on Erik, and well as emotional, for the past ten years to go without seeing or hearing her beautiful voice. He needed her. He needed to see her, to hold her, to hear her, to know she was there. Erik eventually reached the house, but knew he couldn't just go in through the front door. He had no idea if Raoul was home or not and could not risk an encounter with him. No, instead, Erik made his way up and onto her balcony. Luckily, he could still climb up to it thanks to a nearby tree with a long, sturdy branch reached out just close enough that Erik could safely jump onto it. Once he was safely situated, he took a deep breath, but hesitated. Erik stood outside pacing for a few moments trying to gather up his nerve again.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Once they had finished, Christine kept smoothing Gustav's hair. "Now, you know that your father loves you, right?" The boy merely yawned and sat up, his head having rested on Christine's lap. "I know, Mother." With those final words, Christine kissed her boy goodnight, just as Raoul was leaving for a night out. "Goodnight, Father, dear." Gustav told him, but was ignored, excluding a small grunt from Raoul as the boy closed his bedroom door. Raoul closed the front door minutes later.

 

[Guile]

Erik had stopped pacing, listening in for he heard speaking, but could not make out what was being said or who was saying them - it was too muffled. However, he distinctly heard a door opening and closing. Perhaps the loving husband has left to go gambling once again. Erik thought to himself sarcastically, a sneer on his lips at the thought of Raoul abusing the love of a wife and child he was lucky enough to have. with that thought, and a new-found confidence, Erik entered the building via window.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine was listening to that monkey playing the cymbals in Persian robes when Erik came in. She didn't notice at first, but when she did, her heart stopped. She was staring at the man that she thought to, at most, be dead. "You're...you're..." she couldn't get her words out. "No, you can't be! No!" She tried to walk away, but, as was normal for Miss Daae, she immediately fainted on the spot.

 

[Guile]

Erik stood there, watching with sympathetic eyes, as Christine suffered an internal turmoil that he could not see. He said nothing, simply waited for her to finish what she was saying, but she didn't. As soon as Erik saw Christine start to waver, he made his way over to her, unable to catch her before she hit the ground. Kneeling beside her unconscious body, he examined her for the first time in years. She was still so young and beautiful. In fact, she had hardly changed since the last time he had seen her. Erik reached out and caressed her cheek with his bare hand, needing to feel her skin against his once more. Oh, it burned his fingertips and sent sparks through his body. Still, he had to remove his hand to be able to do what he needed to do. Placing his arms under her, Erik scooped her up into his grasp and carried her over to a chair. It felt so wonderful to have her so close to him, touching him as if they were embracing, and yet it was not as satisfying as he had hoped. What he needed, more than anything, was to receive her affection - and embrace at least - willingly, and not because he had to carry her seemingly lifeless body across the room. Still, it was more contact than he had had with her in over ten years. Even that small connection that he shared with her unconscious body was enough to make Erik's heart ache when he gently placed her in the chair. "Oh, Christine..." He whispered, feeling breathless because of her presence, and reached out to take her hand in his

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine lay in the chair for a minute or two, unconscious, but very much alive. When her eyes fluttered open, she saw him and snatched her hand away. "How dare you!" She started panicking. "How dare you come into my home, back into my life when I have a child to raise!" She barked at him, unable to get away. She was trapped in the chair by the man that fathered her Gustav.

 

[Guile]

"Christine, please." Erik begged her to calm herself. He was more than hurt by the fact that she had snatched her hand away so suddenly, but he did not attempt to take it again. "He is my son too." Erik spoke softly, his eyes full of the pain he had felt for the past ten years. He was doing his best to not become angry with her. After all, what right did she ever have to take their son away from his true father all those years ago? Still, yelling would get them no where. Erik couldn't stand seeing her so upset, so hateful, towards him. "Christine, I have missed you so much. You don't understand the hell I have been living these past ten years. I've kept myself away for as long as I possibly could. I can't stay away anymore. I need you, Christine. My life has been meaningless, joyless, for so long. Even my music means nothing to me anymore. Without you I am better off dead, and would be by now, but Madame Giry won't give me two minutes alone to do it." He was close to tears, but stayed strong as he reached out to caress her cheek again. "Please, Christine. Do not turn me away. I am nothing without you!"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine didn't move again. "Stay away from me." She ordered. "I should have known that you'd be here, I should have known it all along. This whole arrangement bears your stamp." She waved her hand around the room, indicating the hell she and her family was living in. "You're in each measure of that song." She pushed him and stood on her feet. "How dare you try and claim me now? How dare you come invade my life?" She pressed her left palm to her chest.

 

[Guile]

Erik's heart tore with each word Christine spoke. It was horribly painful to hear such contempt in her voice when all he wanted was to have her love. He watched her as she spoke and, he had to admit, seeing the anger in her eyes was even worse than hearing it in her voice. And yet, Erik couldn't help but become startled when Christine pushed him away. Immediately he stood, staring after for a moment before deciding to take a few steps toward her. He stood just in front of her, his heart aching at the closeness between them, and reached out to her to place his hand on her arm - another futile attempt to calm her. "If you could know the pain I've known, then you would know I had no choice." He pleaded with her to understand his position. God, he had longed to see her for so many years! "Oh, Christine. My Christine." Erik voice wavered with emotion as he reached out to take her hand in his once more.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine couldn't believe her ears. "That night." She looked back at him. "That night? You still remember?" She was shocked because of that. Her words were soft. She couldn't believe it. "Erik, that was a long time ago." She yanked her arm away. "No, get away from me!" She stood protectively in front of Gustav's door. "We don't need you."

 

[Guile]

"Of course I remember." Erik practically whispered to Christine, his gaze upon her as soft and sympathetic as his voice. "To this day it was the best night of my life." He confessed just before she tore her arm away from him and stood in front of Gustav's door. "But I need you." Erik whispered to himself before turning to face her again, standing just in front of her. It tore him apart, realizing that she was protecting her son - their son - from his own father. Does she think I would hurt him? That I would take him? I am not that wicked! "Surely that night, what we shared together, means more to you than you pretend it does. It has to, Christine." He said those last words as if he were pleading with himself to believe them.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Of course I remember what happened. Of course it means more to me than I'm willing to admit." She hissed softly, not wanting to wake their son. "I have a son now because of it." She couldn't keep the anger from her whisper. "It's the best thing that's happened to me." She felt the tears. "Once there was a night beneath a moonless sky. Too dark to see a thing, too dark to even try." It was similar to a night like this, where there was no moon. "I stole to your side to tell you I must go. I couldn't see your face but sensed you even so." She sang with him once more. She wasn't angry. Teacher and student had reunited.